Convertible automobiles generally have a well adjacent the rear seat or storage area for receiving the top when it is lowered. A cover or "boot" for enclosing this well and giving a "finished" appearance to the vehicle has long been provided. However, boot usage is very often avoided due to difficulty in securing the boot to the vehicle. Thus, for many years, button type snaps placed about the periphery of the boot were used in conjunction with cooperating snaps located on the body of the vehicle. Body panel tolerance variations, however, frequently resulted in alignment problems which caused difficulties in attaching the boot to the vehicle.
The seriousness of the boot attachment problem may be appreciated by reference to the prior art. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 2,664,309 discloses a snap fastener attachment arrangement whose principal advantage over the prior art button fastener is that it is concealed as opposed to the visible button system. However, the patent describes that a plurality of snap fasteners must be used, and this presents the same alignment problem as found with the button fastener.
In a similar vein, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,203; 3,223,446 and 3,237,982 each relate to convertible boot securing arrangements for attaching the boot to the vehicle. Again, however, each of these patented arrangements involved a plurality of individual attachment devices located about the periphery of the boot. This requires substantial individual effort in manipulating each fastener and also does not eliminate alignment difficulties which frequently arise during vehicle manufacture or usage.